Month: September 2015

Remember to breathe, soak in beauty, express and live in your joy, harness gut-fear, and be the amazing mortal that you truly are!

See your dreams vividly, and should your dreams be shrinking allow yourself the time to see the impossible as possible. Design a little space to get to know who you are again. Continue being great. Dig deeper, have that hard conversation, fuel that burning fire in your heart. Feed your spirit, eat healthy, move your body. Let go of frustration. Write down your passion and do something to make it a reality.

That little gut-burn of fear we all know so well, can be fuel. It can also paralyze us into a rut that seems insurmountable. I’ve worked on both sides of fear for many years and have learned some things to be true:

Harnessing that gut-fear takes courage

When used as fuel, gut-fear makes opportunities seem endless

Power can be scary, but that’s the best place to live and make decisions from

Failure is possible, but not taking risk is even worse than failing

Little gut-fear triumphs add up to some serious, miraculous change for the better

I work from places of complacency and fear, both. Sometimes I don’t feel like going with my gut for whatever reason. If I rock along in this state for too long, I paralyze and get stuck. Life feels ‘off.’ Negative energy attracts to me. My mind will tell me that going with my gut will be too much effort and it’s just not worth it. After a while, this causes me burnout and frustration.

When I take the time to notice that gut-fear for what it is, and use it for the positive, I feel powerful. I make clear, conscious choices. I take risks. I have that hard conversation: I stop behaviors that bother me: I don’t take any shit: I do new things: I create: I sleep better: I have more energy.

I am vowing to make more choices from the positive gut-fear. I will sit with it, listen to it, and let my intuition guide me. There is no need to fight the fear. It’s part of life and it will always be there, for all of us. It’s primal. It’s part of living. Why should it be the enemy?

I have been meditating on my fears for a while now and looked them all directly in the face. One by one, I realize that it is my internal energy, my heart, my soul speaking to me. If it is a fear that repeats and continues, I know that my intuition is speaking and I must listen.

We all have intuition for a reason, no matter how big or small.

I want to move forward listening to my center. I need that connection to myself. That’s where we should live from.

We are enough just as we are today. We are bigger than our negative thoughts or fears. Let’s harness them, listen to what it’s really telling us, and act.

You are super happy. Something lit you up like a firework! You got the job, you are pregnant, you have some ahhmazing wedding photos: but you don’t want to share the news because you don’t want to make others feel less-than.

Or, you don’t want to be labeled as the Sunshine Girl, you don’t want to threaten others with your awesomeness.

You repress that joy and excitement.

Growing up you were told not to be “too happy” or “too boastful” or “too showey.”

That suppressed joy and excitement has taken it’s toll over the years hasn’t it?

Have you forgotten how to be excited and share the joy with others?

I have. Bigtime.

Perhaps, little by little I can open up again. I can let the drama go. I can love bigger, live happier, share my joy at any moment I want. Others need it. My lovies don’t need me to be a smaller version of myself do they?

Human beings are spiritual creatures. We have soul. We have intriguing thoughts and incredible feelings. This is how we are set apart from the other animals. It’s science.

While science is not my strong suit, I can totally grasp this concept.

Since we are spiritual, we thrive on feeding that part of us. We need it and crave it. Unfortunately, it’s one of the first things to go in life because we will, you know, just get to it later.

Well, later turns into a really long time. We first focus on the Grind, the to-do list, our dreams and aspirations. Sooner or later, we burn completely out. We get sick and tired of being sick and tired. Something begins to feel like it’s ‘missing’ but we don’t know what it could be. We search, we splurge, we cry.

At this point, it is of serious value to take a look at our spirituality. Has it been neglected? Have you prayed? Do you remember what sunlight and dirt feel like on your skin? Have you silenced the outside noise that never shuts up long enough to breathe?

I have been in this situation more times than I like to admit.

A recent turning point was when I was so weak: physically, mentally, emotionally. I felt like I turned over every possible stone. I was getting exercise and rest. I was doing what I was “supposed to.” I was giving myself -ALL of myself- to my loved ones. That list that rolls on and on? Yeah, I was on it. But nothing seemed to feel right.

As I was moving my bed to a new location, I found my Bible. It was so pretty and crisp and clean. It was neatly tucked away all sacred-like. The pages were perfectly written in purple font and laid so crisp on top of each other.

I broke down and cried.

Why was my Bible so pristine? In an embarrassed, hurried hump I opened it up like it was the first time I had ever heard those precious words.

I grabbed my pen and ferociously made notes. I combed for any bit of inspiration that could ever be discovered. Each phrase was a new ‘aha’ moment. I lingered. Prayed. Sat silently, shaking all over.

I had been neglecting my faith. My SOUL.

A crisp, un-tattered Bible no longer served me. Had I not touched it? Had I been afraid to ‘mess it up?’

I was ashamed and felt guilty.

Friends, shame and guilt are not welcome when getting involved in spiritual things.

Spirituality, faith, belief, forgiving yourself, and being grateful are all part of our life.

If you are in a ditch and have no way out consider loving and balancing by giving your Spirit some much needed attention. It needs to be fed, too. You need balance. Love. Freedom. Unleash your soul. Give it a chance to soar.

It’s been super hard for me to decide if I wanted to bring a rug back into my living room. I mean, I have to vacuum it y’all, and that ain’t cool. But, a few weeks ago, it became clear that we needed one because well, the floor is hard and we like to sit and play on it.

I refused to spend money on a new rug because they are outrageously priced. So, I’ve just been patiently waiting and praying to the rug gods that one would stumble my way.

This story sounds like it is about a rug, but it’s really about sticking to your guns, being patient, hoping, thinking, dreaming, holding out for greatness, leaving space to be filled with goodness: in all areas of our lives.

I’m always wanting something and going after and getting it that instant. That has served me well sometimes, but more often than not left me with half-assed decision based guilt.

And I have no room for that in my life anymore: from the non-serious stuff (a rug) to the hugely important stuff, my dreams and desired won’t be hurried and rushed. There will be space for growing, dreaming, and learning. Quality is welcome over quantity. Love is welcome over stuff. Freedom seeking always and working toward spreading my wings.

When you start working inside-out, some really crazy shizz starts to surface. I’m talking: crazy.

That’s important because getting into the routine of checking into your desires and feelings and why-you-do-what-you-do is legit.

For so long, I ignored my heart and soul. I went with the I should’s instead of the I must’s. Not with ill intention of course, it’s just that it’s easy to push our true desires aside at some point when we ‘grow up.’

But, in reality we don’t have to.

In realizing that my happiness is not attached to goals, end results, or what other people think of me, I came up with a simple solution that seems so simple that it’s easy to forget about. Once it becomes habit after some practice – chasing happiness and desires doesn’t seem so hard after all.

Change one letter and you have a new word. THAT word makes a major difference in how bad-ass you are.

Instead of saying:

I will be happy When…

You say:

I will be happy, Then..

_________________________

You can use this exercise in pretty much any situation and test how the results make you feel.

a) I will be happy when I get a new job

b) I will be happy, then go after that new job

a) I will be happy when I get out of debt

b) I will be happy, then have the energy to create an awesome debt-tackling plan

a) I will be happy when my husband validates me

b) I will be happy, then ‘do me’ because I don’t need my husband’s validation

a) I will be happy when I lose weight

b) I will be happy, then put my shoes on and go for a run on this gorgeous day

I wanted to make sure that your life wasn’t totally disrupted, that it gave you a complete meltdown, or that if I posted it: the world would crumble around me. I am willing to bet, not one of those happened and by the looks out the window – it’s a clear blue, beautiful September day. So.

I haven’t washed or brushed my hair in a week.

Call me feral, but it makes me giddy.

The point is, there are a million ways to do the lo/no poo. It’s all over Pinterest and the interwebs.

The fact is, if you are interested in doing it, two things must happen first:

You must be tired of trying to fight your natural hair, and spending so much time doing so

Your give-a-damn has busted and you would like to spend your time doing other things

Since those 2 apply to me now, I can go about my business and rock some frizzy curls guilt-free.

The transition has been a bitch, but now that it’s not so oily: it’s all about that volume, baby.

I’m obsessed with Free People clothing, except I can not afford it, nor will I pay out-of-pocket full price for new. That’s why I am super stoked to score this brand new soft, twill coat for winter. It fits like a glove, looks adorable, and is really warm.

Some poor soul paid $168ish, and I scored it for $19.99.

That’s a win in my book – great price, perfect fit, and suitable as my capsule winter coat.